The present invention relates generally to thermal inspection methods and apparatus and, more particularly, to non-destructive thermal inspection methods and apparatus.
Currently, most internally cooled components are inspected by various techniques using flow checks, dimensional gauges and other visual methods. Industry typically relies on these methods to determine the quality (pass/fail) of each part as compared to a nominal standard part or a specification. In this practice there is no quantitative way to distinguish between two parts that may have very different internal thermal performance, but which flow the same amount and otherwise pass all external dimensional tests.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved method of thermal inspection and specifically, there is a need for a quantitative non-destructive thermal inspection method and apparatus.
A method of quantitative non-destructive thermal inspection of an article having at least one internal cavity comprises the steps of inputting physical properties of the article, measuring thermal characteristics of the article, and calculating heat transfer coefficients of the internal cavity.